Sales Copy for Customer Fishing	Visited: 1607 Not rated Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Stephen Pavis May 15, 2007

Your sales copy can be very effective in converting site visitors from mildly interested prospects to enthusiastic buyers. To do that, though, your sales copy must be written with the following considerations in mind.

Bait…

Your headline must catch your reader’s attention. If you cannot make your reader notice your copy, you won’t be able to sell him or her anything.

To catch attention with your headline, you must learn to exploit human nature. Human beings are naturally curious, and if you give them something interesting without telling them anything outright, then you’ve got their attention. For instance, you can give your copy a headline of “You Idiot!”

Only a few can resist such an opening salvo.

Human beings are also naturally opportunistic; we’d much prefer to get something for free or at the cheapest possible price. We also do not want to miss out on good opportunities. These are two of the reasons why a sales copy with a headline that says “Free Gifts for 15 Days Only!” can catch its fair share of readers.

These are just some possible approaches to writing your headlines. You can try other tacks to catch your reader’s attention.

…and Reel In

After catching your reader’s interest with your headline, your whole sales copy must hold on to that interest. To achieve this goal, you must pay attention to both the form and content of your sales copy body.

Your text ad should be written in regularly-sized, easy-to-read text. Forgo fancy fonts for basic fonts like Arial and Times New Roman. Stick with standard font sizes like 12, 14, and even 16.

Furthermore, make the font size uniform throughout the body, except maybe the subheadings which can be written around 2 sizes larger.

Subheadings are an important component of a sales copy, especially a long one. The demands on people’s time mean that most people do not read every word of any copy. With subheadings that capture the essence of the sales pitch, people may skip yet still get the gist.

Moreover, try to write a conversational copy. To this end, you must use ‘you’ instead of the third person. For instance, instead of saying “A businessman needs high-speed internet connection to remain on top of things,” you can say, “You must have high-speed internet connection to remain on top of things.”

As for content, you must focus on the needs of your reader. Instead of saying “We offer high-speed internet connection,” say “Time delays in internet calls and conferences caused by slow internet speeds can cost you valuable business contracts. Avail of our high-speed internet connection service for a hassle-free business experience.”

Then Catch

After outlining the needs that your service or your product addresses, make the sale with a powerfully motivating closing line. You can sweeten the pot by offering special rates for a limited time period.